Dreaming of a White Christmas
by totheextraordinarykb
Summary: There's Christmas music filling the apartment, the strands floating through the air. Light only comes from the strands of Christmas lights intertwined in the garland that wrap around the living room and kitchen, disappearing into his office before reemerging. It leaves the apartment in a magical twilight, a dimmed state of holiday cheer.


_Dedicated to tumblr user lilcastlesweets! I hope you enjoyed the Christmas cheer. :)_

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There's Christmas music filling the apartment, the strands floating through the air. Light only comes from the strands of Christmas lights intertwined in the garland that wrap around the living room and kitchen, disappearing into his office before reemerging. It leaves the apartment in a magical twilight, a dimmed state of holiday cheer. The largest source of light, though, are the two women decorating the Christmas tree, their laughter light and their faces shining with smiles. They're hanging up ornaments on an already overloaded tree, and they still have a whole box left to go. It's becoming a puzzle to find an empty space to put the next smiling snowman or glass ball, but they persevere.

Castle smiles. He had insisted that Kate come over after learning that she found Christmas decorating difficult alone. Alexis had taken the intrusion to their typical family tradition in stride, smiling brightly and telling Kate the story of each ornament as it was unwrapped. After Castle had dropped a ceramic Santa, he was banished to the couch besides his mother. Martha handed him a Scotch on the rocks, and took a sip of her eggnog. Since then, the two had been content to watch the festivities, occasionally interjecting with observations of a bare spot on the tree or explaining a story further.

Martha looks at her son and sees the unmasked adoration on his face. "You did good, Richard."

He returns her smile easily. "Yeah." Turning back to the scene, he sees Kate looking him. He gives her a wink, which earns him a laugh that makes his heart skip a beat. He cannot possibly stay away from her any longer. Walking up, he puts his arms around her from behind, captures her hand that's holding an ornament and guides it to a free spot on the tree. Kate gently squeezes his other hand, conveying her thanks, and he thinks his heart might be singing.

Alexis walks over and gives her dad a little shove. "Just because you're moving Detective Beckett's hand doesn't mean you're not decorating the tree, and I thought I banned you from doing that!" The words are laced with a smile.

"You know, if you banish me from decorating, I'm just going to be forced to sing." Letting go of Kate, he strides into the middle of the living room, before singing along dramatically to the tune playing. "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!" Martha and Alexis clasp their hands over their ears, a teasing rhythm developed over the years, with shouts of "No!" "Stop!"

Kate stands there and smiles quietly, looking around at the family, her face shining with joy. He watches as her face falls a little at the next lyric, "Just like the ones I used to know", and he knows what she's thinking of. It simply won't do, no sadness at Christmas, so he walks over, still singing along. He removes the ornament from Kate's hand, placing it on the table, and dramatically bows before her in a silent offer to dance.

Her eyebrow arches, skeptical, but she takes Castle's hand as he swings her out into the open space of the living room, before pulling her in close. "May your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmases be white!" Alexis sits on the edge of the couch, and she and Martha sing the final chorus as well. Castle dips Kate as Martha and Alexis hold the "white" long past the end of the song into the next.

When Kate comes up, she's blushing. "Castle, come on. You're distracting us from the very important task at hand! Alexis, how do you ever manage to get the decorating done with him around?"

Alexis smiles. "He's particularly insufferable this year. Must be the addition to the tradition."

Kate looks at him, and he winks. "Must be."


End file.
